When 4 months of clothes and cobblestone is not helpful

Well I finished all of my finals and I think that they went well. I will find out in awhile how I did. I am now sitting in Paris and I have already said goodbye to Luxembourg. It was a little weird to think about because I spent four months there and now I may never see it again. My last night in Luxembourg was fun though. I went to get some hot chocolate with three friends and I received hot milk with a block of chocolate on a spoon. It was quite different than anything that I am used to. Then Jimmy invited us to go to dinner with his host father so Tiffany and I went. It was really fun and his host father speaks much better English than my host mother does. It was easier to carry on a conversation with him. I ended the night waiting for a train at the same train station that I did at the beginning of the year. I thought that it was fitting. Then today I made my way to Paris and I actually didn’t have too much trouble. The main problem was that I had 4 months worth of baggage that I had to carry around and some places in the city are quite crowded. The Metro was the worst and I ended up waiting until there was enough room so that I could fit. I arrived my hotel before I was able to check in and I had a minor difficulty finding the place. I got off at the correct stop however I could not find the right street. After asking several people I found a guy who pulled out his Iphone and found it right away. It was very helpful. I was surprised by how well gestures work because I don’t speak any French. Just like always thought people will try to point it out to you even if they have no idea. One man pointed one way and told me to turn left then as I started to turn away he said, “No”, and pointed the complete opposite direction, I didn’t trust him at all! I’m not sure how much exploring of Paris I will be doing today because I am quite tired but I am here all week so I think that I have plenty of time! Hope everyone is doing well. My fellow MUDEC friends should be on a plane home right now.

Eastern Europe

1 week in Eastern Europe is quite an experience. Before I get started I must note that the trains are less efficient there. I will get into some details as I go along. We started off as a class and went to Prague. Of course we had to take the cheap way there so we spent the night in Milan on Friday, but it was well worth it for the dinner that we received. Quite possible the best meal yet because the waiter simply kept bringing me more and more food.
The next morning we got up for our plane which left around 7 A.M. Of course we had to get there two hours early. Then Prague consisted of a walking tour. It was a poor decision because the tour lasted about 6 hours and we were all exhausted from the little amount of sleep we had received the night before. The guide was to quiet because the microphone was not close enough to his face. Not to mention this lasted 6 HOURS. I must say I think I saw the entire city of Prague. That night I was a little American and I went with some friends to TGIF with some ice cream that night.
Sunday we had a bus ride to Auschwitz where we watched Schindler’s list. It was a good introduction to what we were about to see. (We also had to read the book called Auschwitz for a little background) Then after arriving to the hotel we went to dinner and called it a night.
The next morning we went to Auschwitz concentration camp and that was very depressing. We have talked about Hitler and World War 2 the entire semester but it is another thing when you are actually there. To see the actual place where over a million people died is quite upsetting. There are two parts of Auschwitz and we went to both of them. It was a little cold at these places since it is in Eastern Europe and I think that it was good because it made us all a little more uncomfortable. We had a tour guide who walked with us through the camp and described the area around us as well as things that went on.
We ate dinner at a Jewish style restaurant in Krakow where there was music and plenty of food. If Auschwitz wasn’t depressing enough we also walked around the Ghetto and saw the size and place of everything. It was quite surprising just how small the Ghetto was. We toured Schindler’s factory which was a mix between a World War 2 museum and his factory. We also went to a Jewish church which was quite small.
I left some things out about our trip but I don’t want this to be too upsetting. After our study tour was over Aunna, Tiffany, Jimmy and I went to breclav. If you are wondering where this is, you are in good company. We were trying to go to Budapest and our train was 40 minutes late so we missed our connection. Sure enough we ended up at a random place in the Czech Republic. It was about 8 P.M. and when we got there the train conductor said he would show us a place to stay. We met these two people that were traveling around Europe from Canada and they were fun but I learned later not to trust them with train stops. When we all saw where we were going to stay we decided that it looked like a crack house. It ended up that the place was not open anyways. I followed the conductor into another building as he was going to get us directions to another place. Sure enough nobody was thinking because I was the only one that went in with him (the one who does none of the planning and never worries about anything). We got directions and noticed that nobody was around at 8 P.M. We ended up staying in a hockey(ish) stadium. It was a little hard to get a room because the man didn’t speak any English, only Czech and German. We spoke broken German to get a room.
Thursday morning was thanksgiving and we woke up and left Breclav at 4 A.M. We arrived in Budapest around nine and we ended up not having to pay for the previous night. When we were trying to find our hostel I was standing by Canada and he told me to get off at the wrong stop. I was separated from the group but we quickly found our way. For my thanksgiving meal I ate goulash for lunch and a hamburger for dinner. We also went to an Opera that night but left at intermission. I was happy I went.
The next day we continued to explore Budapest and went to a Christmas market. It was quite fun and they had some good snack foods. It smelt like Christmas and it was allowed because thanksgiving was over.
Saturday morning we went to Austria again early in the morning. We all had a good time there and stayed in a bed and breakfast. We nearly missed our tour but a van picked us up so that we could still go. We went to many places around Austria and even a Christmas market there. That was about all that I did in one week. Obviously some things are missing but I figured I can tell you mom and Brennan. Thanks for caring
-Brad

Italy

I had a great week this past week. Italy was a wonderful place to have a week off of school. Really most places are good places to spend when you don’t have to go to school, but Italy has so much history and many places to see.
I went with 8 other people and we took the train. We left Saturday morning and there were strikes going on in France so we had to take a different route. The plan was to get into Cinque Terre at about 7 P.M. on Saturday night. Due to the change of plans we were unable to make it there and we had to stop in La Spezia late that night. This was a small problem because we didn’t have a place to spend the night. We got off the train and decided to look for anything cheap near the train station. Some of us were joking saying that we could stay in the train station, but we decided that this would not be our best option. We ended up walking around and found one hotel that only had one room but we would not all fit and it was way out of our price range. We continued and we noticed a place that looked like a hotel because there were many keys hanging on the wall but it was not well marked. There were two older people at the desk and we stepped in and asked if they had any open rooms. I think it was a married couple as they had a picture of the two of them on the front desk. The man took charge and he spoke decent English. We explained our situation and he said that he could give us 4 rooms at 20 Euros per person. We thought about trying to negotiate but this was clearly our best option so we agreed. The rooms were nothing special but great for college students.
The next day we continued to Cinque Terre which is a small town on the coast in Italy. It is called Cinque Terre because it is 5 different towns all close together. We were all excited to be in Italy and stop traveling for the day. We found our hostel after a long walk and a bus ride. We had to take some crazy roads to get to the hostel and there was a mini bus that we took for a small fee.
Once we dropped our bags off, we could go exploring. It was raining but we all thought it would let up. Sure enough it ended up raining the entire time in Cinque Terre. We went to all of the towns and there was some beautiful scenery
On Monday we headed off to Florence but half way we stopped in Pisa to take a few quick pictures. We all had turns holding up the leaning tower and it was fun to see. We ended up going there without spending any money. We arrived in Florence and it was still raining. Lindsay and Tony know a friend at Miami who is studying in Florence so I was able to stay in his apartment free of charge.
I loved Florence and it has so much history. There were many things that I recognized from my art class that I took last year. I don’t want to admit it but I am happy that I had a little background knowledge about some of the artwork. It was fun to see huge churches and so many sculptures. I went to see Michelangelo’s David and it was truly amazing. It was so big and for someone who normally doesn’t like art, I feel like it says something that I was so impressed by the sculpture. I was amazed by the size and could not believe that it used to be a large chunk of marble.
We went into so many churches went shopping at a market. I thought it would be a lot like China because you could negotiate prices. I was disappointed when they didn’t come down to much in price but was still excited to negotiate. All three of us had been to China before and we thought we would have been more successful in lowering the price; nonetheless we still had a great time.
On Wednesday we went to Rome where we rented an apartment. It was a great place for the price, the only down side was the fact that it was a little far but by public transportation it was not too bad. We went all over Rome and visited the Vatican. The Vatican was amazing because it had so many places that were simply covered in artwork. It would take so long to paint so many walls and ceilings. We went to the Basilica in the Vatican and were lucky enough to see the Pope. It wasn’t very close but it was still neat to see him. We also explored the Coliseum and it was the only place we paid a little extra for a tour guide. It was fun and it made me want to watch Gladiator again.
Saturday we decided that we had seen a lot of Rome so we would go to Pompeii. After a series of events it was clear that we were going to be unable to make it there. We ended up spending the day in Naples and it was disgusting. There was lots of trash on the street and I can say that the only good thing that happened there was the pizza that we ate.
We were lucky to return to Rome that night and we went to a few places at night. Now for those of you that made it this far I have to say congrats…….I left lots out simply because I am so tired of typing and I can’t imagine how boring this must be to read……if you want to know more just ask.

Interlaken, and Berlin

It has been two weeks since I have updated this so I have a lot to talk about.  The second weekend of October I went to Interlaken, Switzerland.  I must say that Switzerland was a beautiful country!  I was not surprised by how expensive it was because some of my friends who had been there warned me.  A burger from McDonalds was over ten francs.  A franc is about the same as a dollar so that is a little sad.  Don’t worry I did not but anything from McDonalds.  The highlight of Interlaken was canyoning.    Canyoning is basically walking down a river and jumping off of rocks into the deep water.  We also use rocks as slides and basically try to do exactly what the guides tell us.  You don’t want to mess up because if you jump wrong you could get injured.  I have already put some pictures up on my facebook if you have not had a chance to look at them. 

Then this weekend I went to Berlin.  It was a great city and the highlight was the FREE walking tour.    It was a great way to see Berlin.  I saw so many places this way that I would have otherwise been unable to find.  The city has so much history and has had so many changes over time.  Germany as a whole is younger than the States because they were smaller countries before they became united.  Some of the big places we went were:

·         A Jewish memorial-which is very unusual as it was many large rectangular slabs meant to make people, who already know about what happened, think further about it.    

·         Checkpoint Charlie-which is where the crossing was from West Berlin into East Berlin during the Cold War. 

·         Hitler’s Bunker-where he committed suicide; though this bunker is destroyed we were above it.

·         The Berlin Wall-I don’t need to explain this but our tour guide said he made a mistake early in his career in saying it was the most famous wall in the world.  He said there were a few people from China who disagreed. 

I had a great time in Berlin and things were the exact opposite, price wise, in Berlin compared to Switzerland.  I spent 5.50 Euros on a lasagna dinner Saturday night.  I think the only down side to Berlin was the fact that the train ride took 8 hours.  It was a filled weekend to say the least.  I had a great time and can’t believe how lucky I am to experience all of this!

School is better when weekends consist of traveling around Europe!

Enjoy,

Brad

What a Week!

I had a great week this past week.  Our school has mini study tours which are related to a class that we are taking while abroad.  I am taking an anthropology class and we went to Brussels and Amsterdam for my class.  We went into many museums and saw how Brussels portrayed the Congo.  It was interesting to see all of that and how it related to class but on top of that I had a wonderful time just traveling. 

I have been to Bruges before but not Brussels.  I thought Brussels was a nice city and saw some neat things.  Once again they have some of the world’s best chocolates in Belgium.  Amsterdam was also a unique city to say the least.  It was quite large and we had tram passes for the two days that we were there.  The trams were a bit confusing as it was not clear what stop we needed to get off at.  I went on a canal ride that lasted about an hour and I am glad that I could see the city that way as well.  I was not worried about getting lost while on the boat.  I also went into Anne Frank’s house while in Amsterdam.  That was one of the most interesting things I did while I was on the study tour. I thought that it was well organized and did a good job explain her diary and thoughts.  When the Nazi’s raided the house they destroyed and removed all of the furniture and her dad wanted to keep it that way so visitors could see what happened.  There were miniature models to see what the house looked like before the raid happened.  Also the place where they hid (the attic) was located behind a bookcase that we very well designed.  When it was closed, the attic would have been completely hidden. 

After Amsterdam I had to catch a train get to the airport.  A man came up and offered tickets to the airport for a cheaper price.  I was worried that it was a scam so I asked if I could take them inside.  After he agreed I went to the information booth and they said the tickets were valid.   After about forty five minutes into the train ride the conductor came around and he didn’t speak any English but I knew something was wrong.  Since I am still a little inexperienced with trains in Europe, I missed my stop and overshot the airport by about half an hour.    Since I love getting to places early I was a little panicked that I would miss my flight.  I hurried into the train station and bought another ticket to get back to the airport.  That train left in two minutes so I took off at a dead sprint to the platform.  I caught the train right as it was leaving. 

The second time around I realized what stop to get off at.  I made it to the airport and through security with about 4 hours to spare.  I still had plenty of time to kill and I had cost myself about an hour.  One could say that I was worried for no reason.  The flight went well and once my plane landed I had to wait about an hour for my friend Chris since his plane was delayed. 

We went our hostel around midnight and woke up the next day for our tour around Ireland.   The tour went by bus and we had about 15 people in our group.  Ireland is at the very least one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  I was taking pictures like I was a professional photographer.  I would turn my camera off every time I was not using it to conserve as much battery life as possible.  I will get some pictures up as soon as possible but it may be later this week.  One stop was a fountain where there were lots of coins.  Being a scavenger that I am, I grabbed the coins.  I like to think that I stole the leprechaun’s treasure.  We went to the cliffs of moher on the second day.  Our guide dropped us off before the park actually started so we walked quite close to the edge.  Being scared of heights I was a little scared when the wind would pick up.  I still took pictures but I don’t think I was snapping them as much as normal being so close to the edge. 

Weather in Ireland was unpredictable.  It would rain for 5 minutes then be sunny for and hour.  Then it might rain again.  The plus side of this was it allowed me to see two rainbows.   

Overall it was a wonderful week and I can’t believe I have to opportunity to do all of this!  I must say thanks Mom and Dad for all you have done!  Happy Reading…..

Guten tag

-Brad

Bruges and Strasbourg

I went to Bruges for my first weekend in Europe.  I had a blast and did so many things.  I thought their streets were very nice because they were almost all made of brick.  I took a lot of neat pictures and I bet a few people are waiting for me to post these (mom and Brennan).  I may wait to do that at a different time. 

We didn’t have any troubles with the train and I was very surprised.  We made the first train as the doors were closing and it was last second decision.  We then made all the trains thereafter without hesitation.  I feel like I am learning a lot about how to get around by public transportation since we have very little of that where I live. 

I was surprised by how beautiful Bruges was.  A few of the people that I was with decided that they wanted to live there when they could afford it.  I doubt that it will ever happen but it was funny.  I decided as long as every weekend is somewhere as close as this weekend was, it will be a wonderful semester. 

I went up a bell tower and could see the entire city from there.  I took some really neat pictures.  I also went on a ride in the channels which are located in the middle of the city.  I had some amazing food which included waffles, French fries, and chocolate.  Belgium is the place for all of these! 

I went to Strasbourg my second weekend and it was also a lot of fun.  Since I did not have class on Friday I ended up leaving Thursday night.  Our train was fifty minutes late leaving but since it was direct to Strasbourg it was not a big deal.  We went up to the top of a huge cathedral in the middle of the city.  It was fun and we did lots of walking.  I ran out of things to do so we ended up relaxing in a park most of Saturday day.

 I also discovered that I love kebobs.  It is a type of sandwich and I will post pictures on my facebook.  The sandwich can be made with beef, chicken, or lamb.  I like it with chicken or lamb.  The sauce is what really makes the sandwich though.  I believe I had a total of four on the trip.  School is going well but I must say the weekends are the best part.  I can’t believe I have been here for over ½ a month! 

Classes

This week was my first week of classes. I am surprised by how much reading I have had, this is not my favorite way of learning as I would rather do anything but read. Nonetheless I am in Europe so I really can’t complain.


I have been here over a week now and I am now comfortable enough with the trains that I can get some work done on the train. It is nice when I have classes at the same time as my friends because we get to ride the train together, but I have realized that I notice so much more around me when I am alone. I am more aware to what others are doing and I feel a little less of an alien.

My “Rise and Fall of Hitler” class has started and my teacher will not be in Luxembourg to teach the second week so we are making up for it all this week. My teacher is an older man who speaks all from memory. He is very knowledgeable about dates and facts. We can all ask questions and he seems to know them without hesitation. He sits during class when he lectures because he gets tired if he has to stand the whole time. I think I will like this class I only wish we didn’t have four books with one the size of a dictionary!

Yesterday I was sitting at the school and I realized that I was not talking much to my host mom. I only see her at breakfast and it feels like we try to talk but a lot of it gets lost in translation. We have to stick to the most basic ways of communication. I want to talk to her more and learn more about her as well as the area. I told her that my Hitler class was having a class this morning and that is why I was up earlier. I then continued to ask her if she was alive during his time and how it was. After she realized what I was asking, she confirmed that she was alive during that time but she was too young. She says it was a dark time for Europe and it is in the past. She also said that they don’t really talk about it and that ended the conversation. There was some that I didn’t understand that she said and I wish I would have known what it was, but I didn’t want to keep asking. Perhaps it will come up again and we can continue to talk about the subject or stories that she has heard but I don’t want to over step my boundaries.

I am planning on going to Bruges this weekend and I’m not sure what we will be doing but it should be fun and I will definitely have a waffle.



Several additional things I have noticed include

1) Most people in Luxembourg know many languages.

2) Lunch is the biggest meal of the day and many restaurants close as early as 18:00 (6:00 p.m.)

3) When walking into a store it is the customers job to greet the clerk.



I need to get back to reading. I hope you enjoy this!

Enjoying Europe!
 
-Brad Granger